Sony Forming Anti-Piracy Program

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SCEA looking to bulk up its legal team.

By Jim Reilly

Two new job listings posted on SCEA's website reveal the company is getting serious about PlayStation 3 software piracy.

Sony is looking for a new Senior Corporate Counsel and a Senior Paralegal for Anti-Piracy and Brand Protection. The main responsibilities include "assessing annual SCEA corporate anti-piracy needs and addressing the needs through developing and implementing an anti-piracy program."

"The program to be developed will require a strong strategic online component (taking input from and working with SCEA Marketing, SCEA Strategic Business Development Latin America and SCEA Product Development)," the listing reads.

The jobs also require "collaborating with other anti-piracy organizations, including those of affiliated Sony Computer Entertainment companies, Sony Corporation and the videogame industry's trade association, the Entertainment Software Association."

Other responsibilities ask for "overseeing anti-piracy civil lawsuits and providing support to law enforcement and intellectual property agencies on behalf of SCEA." Additionally, one of the requirements is having "knowledge of online investigative practices and online databases (e.g. how to find owner, administrator, ISP associated with a given domain name, etc.)"

Sony recently took famed iPhone hacker George Hotz to court after he and another group of hackers unlocked the PlayStation 3's security and later published the data online. Since then, homebrew applications to run pirated software have hit the net, and one of Sony's major first-party titles, Killzone 3, was reportedly leaked two weeks before its release.

Last Wednesday, the company issued a statement saying those caught using pirated software will have their console banned permanently from PlayStation Network.

"Circumvention devices and game piracy damage our industry and can potentially injure the online experience for you, our loyal PlayStation customers, via hacks and cheats," Sony stated. "By identifying PlayStation 3 systems that breach our guidelines and terminating their ability to connect to PlayStation Network, we are protecting our business and preserving the honest gameplay experiences that you expect and deserve."